American Nurseryman -Jan 2012

Kibitzers and networkers From the Jan 1 1942 issue of American Nurseryman we find that our enthusiasm for networking isnt quite so current In his column This Business of Ours Ernest Hemming writes Kitibzers and Selling Of course it is only true in a small town but a member of our firm can hardly walk uptown without receiving a small order In fact one said that if you stood around on the sidewalk on Saturday morning you could probably do more business than you would in the office On the other hand every business has opportunities of selling that are possibly overlooked Whenever a planting job is done in a conspicuous location such as in parks about public buildings etc there are numerous kibitzers Quite often a number of these kibitzers are potential customers It is likely that it would be worth while that in addition to the supervisor or foreman on the job a sales man just hang around and talk to the interested spectators that saunter up to ask foolish and sensible questions If a genial salesman is around to answer How to you prune this or Have you any of that kind of plant he will soon find that there will be invitations to come around and fix my garden or take care of my dooryard planting or put me in a rose garden Of course the rush of the planting season and the desire to get on to the next job makes this difficult and while the foreman may be civil and polite it is difficult to run the job through efficiently and at the same time follow up interesting leads A salesman could easily do this I wonder if we realize how much chance and opportunism has to do with many of the orders we get For instance with the vague idea in the back of his mind that he will someday plant an outdoor living room in his back yard a customer who sees a gang of men doing a workmanlike job uptown may stop and ask a few questions If someone is there with the time to give him that man might decide to go ahead with the work If not the job may never be done or it might be done by the next nurseryman who comes along at the right moment There is another point about kibitzers and our business To us our business is work even though beautiful and unusual plants give us pleasure and we enjoy our work but to many of our customers our profession is their hobby And poor man or rich man they all like to talk about their hobby and people indulge in hobbies only as the spirit moves them which is too often only when it is called to mind Pay attention to your kibitzers and you will probably get more business than you would from a newspaper advertisement 08_ style Cr1_ size 1 pdf 1 12 28 11 11 16 AM Fennville MI 49408 Phone 269 543 4123 Fax 888 416 6425 www engelsnursery com info@ engelsnursery com When Quality Counts Dedicated to producing the Highest Quality Seedlings in the Midwest All varieties graded to ANLA standards to ensure quality and consistency ATLAS MANUFACTURING INC OPTIONAL CURTAIN DOOR SHOWN YOUR HIGH TUNNEL HEADQUARTERS SOME FEATURES OF OUR HIGH TUNNELS INCLUDE QUONSET OR A FRAME DESIGN AVAILABLE IN 16 30 WIDE WIDTHS EQUIPPED WITH ROLL UP SIDEWALL CURTAINS HIGH TENSIL GALVANIZED STEEL CONSTRUCTION OPTIONAL CURTAIN DOOR OR ZIPPER DOOR AVAILABLE APPROVED MANUFACTURER 8003469902 WWW ATLASGREENHOUSE COM Atlas_ 13Sq_ 0112 indd 1 12 22 11 3 06 30 PM 30 JANUARY 2012 American Nurseryman www amerinursery com